JOIN USXi regime must behave, or be isolated
The surge in Covid-19 cases in China has triggered renewed apprehension worldwide. Millions of people are said to be infected, and hospitals and crematoriums overwhelmed. What makes it all particularly concerning is the Chinese authorities’ refusal to share authentic information with its own people and with the world on the magnitude of the pandemic, the mutations of the coronavirus in the country, and the nature of its spread.
China has been parsimonious with the truth right from the start. It refused to divulge whether the virus was created in a lab or had natural origins. It did not inform the world about the virus and its spread in late 2019 in good time, choosing instead to let large numbers of Chinese travel out of Wuhan and spread the virus worldwide. It looked on, smug in the ability of its own authoritarian regime to stop the virus from spreading internally by shutting down entire cities and regions at will, while the rest of the world suffered millions of infections and deaths due to its export.
That that smug arrogance has been belied cannot be ignored by the world now as there is the danger of another wave of the pandemic arising from China.
Acting in the dark, in the absence of authentic information from the Xi Jinping regime, several countries have announced new entry restrictions on travellers arriving from China. Chinese authorities have slammed these measures as “discriminatory” and as efforts to undermine the Chinese regime.
They have warned of countermeasures. Fearing Chinese retaliation, several countries, especially developing ones that are heavily dependent on trade and aid from China, have withdrawn these restrictions. Such Chinese bullying must stop. Xi’s own draconian ‘Zero Covid’ measures imposed unbearable burdens on the Chinese people. Beijing even shut the world out for nearly three years.
Its shrill objections now, having suddenly swung from extreme control to taking off all restrictions and leaving its citizens to fend for themselves, reek of hypocrisy and rank irresponsible behaviour by the government of a major country, one that seeks to impress upon the world its values and character.
The world cannot stand by and watch as the Xi regime leaves its citizens to fend for themselves and refuses to share reliable information about the pandemic situation in the country. The international community must make it clear to China that if it wants to be part of the comity of nations, then it must follow norms and diligently measure and share authentic information on all aspects of the pandemic and its current surge in China with its own people as well as with the world.